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English · Guide 1 of 4

Spelling rules for the 11+

English spelling isn't as random as it looks. A handful of rules for plurals, adding endings and 'ie' or 'ei' will help you spell thousands of words, and spot the mistakes in a spelling test.

  • Ages 9 to 11
  • 11+ English
  • Worked examples

What is it?

Many 11+ papers have a spelling section. A sentence is split into four parts and you choose the part with a spelling mistake, or 'N' if there is no mistake. Other papers ask you to add an ending to a word, or to choose the correctly spelt word.

The rules below cover the mistakes that come up most: plurals (one baby, two babies), adding endings like -ing, -ed, -ful and -ness, doubling letters, 'i before e', and tricky words you simply have to learn.

A typical question

Find the part with a spelling mistake: The children were / exited about / their trip to / the seaside. (or N for no mistake)

How to spot it

  • A sentence split by lines into sections labelled A, B, C, D, with N for 'no mistake'.
  • 'Which word is spelt correctly?' with four similar-looking choices.
  • 'Add -ing to…', 'Write the plural of…' or 'Add the suffix -ful'.
  • Mistakes hide in long words and in words that sound right when you say them (exited / excited).

Step-by-step method

  1. Step 1: Plurals: add -s to most words (cats). Add -es after s, x, z, ch or sh (buses, boxes, churches, wishes).
  2. Step 2: Words ending in a consonant + y: change y to i and add -es (baby → babies). A vowel + y just adds -s (day → days, toy → toys).
  3. Step 3: Many words ending in f or fe change to -ves (leaf → leaves, knife → knives), but learn the exceptions: roofs, chiefs, chefs.
  4. Step 4: Silent e: drop the e before an ending that starts with a vowel (hope → hoping, make → making). Keep it before a consonant ending (hope → hopeful, care → careful).
  5. Step 5: Doubling: a short word with one short vowel and one final consonant doubles it before a vowel ending (hop → hopping, big → bigger, run → runner). Longer words double only if the last part is stressed (beGIN → beginning, but VISit → visiting).
  6. Step 6: Consonant + y before an ending: change y to i (happy → happiness, carry → carried), but keep the y before -ing (carrying).
  7. Step 7: 'i before e except after c' when the sound is 'ee': believe, field, but receive, ceiling. Learn the odd ones out: seize, weird, protein.
  8. Step 8: -ful has one l (helpful, beautiful), and so do always, also and already.

Worked examples

Example 1: spot the mistake

Question: The children were / exited about / their trip to / the seaside. Which part has a mistake?
  1. Step 1: Read each part slowly, looking at every letter, not just the sound.
  2. Step 2: 'The children were' ✓. 'exited about': 'exited' means went out. The word that fits is 'excited', with a c.
  3. Step 3: The mistake is in part B: exited should be excited.

Answer: B (excited)

Example 2: plural of a y word

Question: Write the plural of 'baby' and of 'monkey'.
  1. Step 1: 'baby' ends in b + y: a consonant + y. Change y to i and add -es: babies.
  2. Step 2: 'monkey' ends in e + y: a vowel + y. Just add -s: monkeys.

Answer: babies, monkeys

Example 3: doubling or not

Question: Add -ing to 'swim', 'shine' and 'begin'.
  1. Step 1: swim: one syllable, short vowel, one consonant at the end → double it: swimming.
  2. Step 2: shine: ends in silent e, and -ing starts with a vowel → drop the e: shining.
  3. Step 3: begin: two syllables, the stress is on the last part (be-GIN) → double: beginning.

Answer: swimming, shining, beginning

Example 4: y to i

Question: Add -ness to 'happy' and -ed to 'carry'.
  1. Step 1: happy ends in consonant + y, so change y to i: happi + ness = happiness.
  2. Step 2: carry: change y to i: carri + ed = carried. (But carrying keeps the y, because -ing starts with i and 'ii' would look odd.)

Answer: happiness, carried

Common traps

  • Reading what you expect

    Your brain fixes mistakes as you read. In a spelling test, look at each word letter by letter, especially the long ones.

  • Doubling when you shouldn't

    Only double after a short vowel. 'hope' + ing is hoping (long o), but 'hop' + ing is hopping (short o).

  • -full with two l's

    The ending is always -ful: careful, wonderful, thankful. The word 'full' on its own has two.

  • Sound-alike words

    'exited' and 'excited', 'quite' and 'quiet', 'lose' and 'loose' are all real words, so a spell-checker wouldn't catch them. Check the meaning fits.

  • Forgetting 'N'

    Some lines have no mistake at all. Don't pick a part just because you think there must be an error.

Top tips

  • Learn the words that break the rules in a list: weird, seize, protein, roofs, chiefs, truly, argument.
  • Use 'spelling voices' for silent letters: Wed-nes-day, k-nife, lis-ten, is-land.
  • Tricky words often tested: necessary (one collar, two sleeves: one c, two s's), separate (there's 'a rat' in it), definitely, accommodation, rhythm, government.
  • Write a word you're unsure of two ways on scrap paper: the right one usually looks right.
  • Look, say, cover, write, check: the best way to learn a new spelling.

Practice questions

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